About
The National Museum of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in East Lothian is Scotland's national aviation museum and one of the most important collections of historic aircraft in Britain, maintained by National Museums Scotland on the site of a remarkably well-preserved First World War airfield. East Fortune itself has a significant place in aviation history: from here, in July 1919, the R34 airship departed on the first east-to-west transatlantic crossing and the first transatlantic return double crossing, a journey that demonstrated the potential of lighter-than-air flight for intercontinental travel before the era of the aeroplane had matured sufficiently to attempt such routes.
The museum's aircraft collection spans the entire history of flight from early experimental machines to Cold War jets and includes some exceptionally rare survivors. Among the highlights is a de Havilland Comet — the world's first commercial jet airliner, which entered service in 1952 and transformed passenger aviation before a series of fatal crashes revealed the previously unknown dangers of metal fatigue — and one of only two surviving examples of the British Aircraft Corporation/Aérospatiale Concorde. Concorde G-BOAA, the first Concorde to enter British Airways service and the aircraft that flew the last commercial Concorde service on 24 October 2003, is preserved at East Fortune in full display configuration and forms one of the most emotionally resonant aircraft exhibits in Britain.
The museum is arranged across the original airfield buildings and a series of purpose-built hangars. The First World War airfield context gives the entire site a rare atmospheric quality — the original wartime structures survive largely intact, making East Fortune one of the most complete examples of a Great War operational airfield in Scotland. The museum also covers the airfield's Second World War role as a Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS East Fortune) and the fascinating story of the wartime airship operations that preceded conventional aviation on this site.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Boarding Concorde is the unmissable experience — the narrow cabin and tiny windows give a visceral sense of how radical this aircraft was; join any queue that forms early.
- Allow at least 3 hours — the site is large and the aircraft collection extensive; rushing through means missing important context and detail.
- Car is strongly recommended — the museum is on a rural airfield site with limited public transport from East Fortune village. From Edinburgh, the A1 east to East Linton then follow signs.
- Check for special events — the annual Airshow day is one of the most popular events in the East Lothian calendar and must be booked in advance.
- National Museums Scotland members enter free — membership also covers the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and the other NMS branches.
- Combine with North Berwick (7 km north) for a coastal walk and the Scottish Seabird Centre's boat trips to Bass Rock, one of the world's largest gannet colonies.
- Tantallon Castle, 10 km east, is one of Scotland's most dramatically located castles — a spectacular complement to the aviation focus of the museum.
- The café is useful but limited — North Berwick has excellent restaurants and fish-and-chip shops for a post-visit meal.
Highlights
Concorde G-BOAA
Concorde G-BOAA is one of only a handful of Concordes preserved anywhere in the world and the centrepiece of the East Fortune collection. This aircraft was the first Concorde to enter British Airways service, taking its inaugural commercial flight on 21 January 1976 on the Bahrain route, and it flew the last commercial Concorde service on 24 October 2003 when the supersonic fleet was retired.
Visitors can board the aircraft and stand in the narrow, low-ceilinged passenger cabin, experiencing the almost unbelievably compact space in which passengers once cruised at Mach 2 — twice the speed of sound — at 60,000 feet altitude.
The Concorde displays include film footage, passenger memorabilia, and the story of the Anglo-French programme that produced this extraordinary machine.
de Havilland Comet
The de Havilland Comet, which entered commercial service with BOAC in May 1952, was the world's first jet-powered commercial airliner — years ahead of any competitor and a source of immense national pride in post-war Britain. The museum's Comet is one of only a small number of survivors, and its story encompasses both triumph and tragedy: within two years of entering service, three Comets had disintegrated in flight, and the resulting investigation discovered for the first time the phenomenon of metal fatigue under pressurisation cycling that had caused the square window corners to crack.
The disaster led to a complete redesign of aircraft structures and safety standards that transformed aviation, even as it ended Britain's early lead in commercial jet aviation.
The R34 and the First Transatlantic Airship Crossing
In July 1919, just sixteen years after the Wright Brothers' first flight, the British rigid airship R34 departed from East Fortune on a journey that would take it across the Atlantic to Mineola, New York — the first east-to-west transatlantic crossing by any aircraft. The return journey completed the first double transatlantic crossing, demonstrating the enormous range potential of lighter-than-air craft.
The museum's R34 displays, including original instruments, photographs, and material from the historic flight, tell the story of this extraordinary achievement and the brief era when it seemed airships rather than aeroplanes might be the future of long-distance flight.
First World War Aviation at East Fortune
East Fortune Airfield was established in 1915 by the Royal Naval Air Service as a base for airships patrolling the North Sea and defending the Scottish coast from German submarine and Zeppelin attack. The surviving First World War airfield buildings — constructed in characteristic wartime functional style — are among the best-preserved examples of a Great War operational naval air station in Scotland.
The museum's WWI displays cover airship operations on the Home Front, the technical development of rigid airships from the RNAS's first crude blimps to the capable craft like R34, and the role of East Fortune in the naval war.
Collections
The National Museum of Flight holds one of the finest aviation collections in the United Kingdom, spanning the full history of flight from early experimental aircraft to the supersonic era. The collection includes over fifty aircraft in various states of display and preservation, with particular strengths in British commercial aviation history (Comet, Concorde), airship history (R34 documentation), and military aviation from both World Wars and the Cold War.
The site at East Fortune Airfield, one of Scotland's most significant historic airfields, provides an authentic operational context for the collections.
Concorde: The Supersonic Story
The story of Concorde G-BOAA and the Anglo-French supersonic aircraft programme.
Fantastic Flight: The Story of East Fortune Airfield
The history of East Fortune Airfield from WWI through WWII to the present, including the R34 transatlantic crossing.
Jet Age: From Comet to Concorde
The development of commercial jet aviation, from the revolutionary de Havilland Comet to the supersonic Concorde era.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.